Tag Archives: joe nichols

Brad Paisley and Wynonna Judd are the latest two celebrities to pledge participation in the national public education campaign 1 for All’s Free to Tweet event on Thursday, which is a daylong celebration of First Amendment rights and Bill of Rights Day.

Over the course of the day, Americans are encouraged to tweet their support of the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference, then label it with the hashtag #FreeToTweet.

Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton, The Civil Wars and more have also agreed to participate in #FreeToTweet, and high school and college students nationwide are eligible to win one of 22 $5,000 scholarships by creatively tweeting their thoughts on the First Amendment. For more information, visit freetotweet.org.

Click this photo to see a gallery from the 2011 BMI Country Awards red carpet. Here, Keith Urban is recognized during the 59th annual BMI Country Awards on Tuesday night. (Photo: Sam Simpkins/The Tennessean)

Akins and Davidson were named songwriters of the year, each contributing five of the performing rights organization’s most-performed songs of the year on radio and television, four of which they wrote together: “All About Tonight” (Blake Shelton), “All Over Me” (Josh Turner), “Gimmie That Girl” (Joe Nichols) and “The Shape I’m In” (Joe Nichols). “All Over Me” also earned the pair Song of the Year honors.

Akins and Davidson make up two-thirds of songwriting trio the Peach Pickers, and the group’s other member, Ben Hayslip, was named songwriter of the year at the ASCAP Country Awards on Sunday.

“We’re all from South Georgia, and we just talk the same language, and it lands on paper the same,” Davidson said. “To be honored amongst these people is very special to me, and I know it is to Rhett.”

Braddock, a new inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and the only living songwriter to have written chart-toppers in five consecutive decades, was named a BMI songwriting Icon for his list of hits, including classics “He Stopped Loving Her Today” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E” and contemporary hits “People Are Crazy” and “I Wanna Talk About Me.”

"It was 1999, and it was just like the whole night I felt like I was walking on air. It was just magic," said McBride of winning female vocalist of the year. "We had been nominated several times before, so to finally hear your name called, it was like the whole world went into slow motion."

Winning a CMA award also holds special memories for Joe Nichols. He won the new artist of the year category in 2003, when it was called the Horizon Award.

"I got to perform that night in front of George Strait, Hank (Williams) Jr. and all my heroes. I was scared to death ... but it was a fun night," he said, "and I got to take home an award that I never thought I'd win."

Alan Jackson is the second most-nominated artist in CMA history. His run began in 1990, and this year's nod for musical event of the year with the Zac Brown Band gives him a total of 80 nominations. It puts him behind George Strait with 81.

“It’s unbelievable, it really is,” Hayslip says of landing five hits in one year. “I dreamed of being a lot of things in my life, from an NFL quarterback to a songwriter, but I don’t think I ever dreamed of having five hit songs in a year. Maybe I didn’t think it was possible.”

But Hayslip won’t dwell on his remarkable year for long; he says she’s not “wired” that way.

“It’s like, ‘I’ve got to get on it. I’ve got nothing going on right now, even though I do,'” he says. “I really believe in working hard and trying to forget what you’ve already done and move on to the next thing. In a way, it will drive you crazy because you never enjoy anything, but in another way, tht’s what drives me.”

“Ben is very well-grounded,” explains Josh Turner. “He’s a family man. His ideas and his lyrics and his music come from a real honest place.”

Country star Brad Paisley was honored with his second ASCAP Country Songwriter/Aristist of the Year award at the ceremony at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center on Sunday night. Paisley scored three of ASCAP’s most-performed songs of the year: “Anything Like Me,” “This is Country Music” and “Water.” He won the award in 2004 and over his career has had 24 additional ASCAP Most Performed Songs of the Year Awards.

Joe Nichols at the CMA Music Festival in 2010 (photo: John Partipilo/The Tennessean)

Joe Nichols treated 300 fan club members to 90 minutes of music and chit chat on Sunday morning during his annual fan club party at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The country singer played his own songs, including "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off," "Gimme That Girl" and new song "Take it Off," then surprised fans with a visit from Dierks Bentley.

The pair performed "Lot of Leavin' Left to Do," and when Bentley complimented Nichols' band, Nichols quipped, "They're not for sale." The pair also covered Keith Whitley's "I'm Over You."

Aside from the music, fans also got a little insight into Nichols' relationship with his mom. The singer told fans that after he released "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off," his mother called and said, "Joseph, really?" He got another phone call with the release of "Take it Off."

The top half of lower Broadway was swarming with country music fans on Friday afternoon, with hundreds of music lovers braving the heat at 1:15 to hear Earl Thomas Conley sing hits including "I Can't Win For Losing You." Minutes after his set ended, T. Graham Brown was holding court in the Nashville Convention Center -- so many fans showed up to hear him sing they filled the room with the stage and spilled into the walkway. Those in the back stood on their tiptoes to see him sing "Hell And High Water."

"It's been really, really great to get a chance to do this," said Young, who has signed more than 1,000 autographs over the past two days. "With it being a big year in my career and the 40th anniversary of the festival, it's been cool to think back about how I used to stand in line like this when I was a kid to meet people, and it's cool to realize people are now standing in line to meet me. It's just really hit home this year."

Young's big year comes with a list of big recent accomplishments -- he was nominated for a best male country vocal performance Grammy and has a current Top 10 single in "Tomorrow," which follows up a trio of No. 1 singles: "Gettin' You Home (The Black Dress Song)," "The Man I Want to Be" and "Voices."

He'll release his new album, Neon, on July 12, and plays the CMA Music Festival Saturday night at LP Field.

Country stars will once again take to the fashion runway on Tuesday, June 7, as Rocketown hosts the Country Weekly Fashion Show & Concert, with Broadway star turned country singer Laura Bell Bundy presiding over the event.

This fifth annual event, which kicks off at 9 p.m., will benefit Musicians On Call, an organization that brings music to patients in healthcare facilities. General admission tickets are available for $30 through Ticketmaster. Visit Musiciansoncall.org for more information, and watch a video message from participants in last year's event above.

Mr. Allen was 55 and was known in Nashville for his songwriting success — he was a BMI songwriter of the year in 2005 — and for his near-total disregard for political correctness or industry convention. He was outspoken and sometimes outlandish, yet he retained the respect and admiration of many of country and bluegrass music’s major figures.

“I always liked seeing his name on a song: It was always something I wished I’d written,” said Jackson, who recorded nine Allen songs, including Top 10 country radio hit “Everything I Love” and No. 1 smash “Between the Devil and Me.”

Ricky Skaggs, who performs Mr. Allen’s “A Simple Life” at each concert, is another friend and fan.

“He was one of the most talented guys in this town,” Skaggs said. “Such a great singer and player, and as a songwriter the guy was brilliant. I loved him.”Continue reading →

Chesney’s first No. 1 country hit, 1997’s “When I Close My Eyes,” was produced by Barry Beckett. Since then, Cannon has been involved in each hit, including “The Good Stuff,” “There Goes My Life” and “Don’t Happen Twice.”